The 'education for disciplinary initiation' philosophy has strong roots in K-12 Ontario education. Here are three concrete examples which show how the disciplinary initiation philosophy informs educational practice:
- Subject specialization requirements for teacher certification: To become a certified teacher in Ontario, Junior/Intermediate teacher candidates are required to specialize in one teachable subject. Intermediate/Senior teacher candidates are required to specialize in two teachable subjects.
- Rotary: Many upper elementary and most secondary schools operate on a rotary schedule in which students rotate from class to class, learning from subject specialist teachers, sometimes in classrooms that provide specialized equipment appropriate for the subject under study (e.g., science labs). In support of a strong disciplinary focus, many secondary schools employ teacher-leader unit heads in the major curriculum areas.
- Separate curriculum documents: The Ontario curriculum comprises separate documents for each major subject area, such as Language and Math. At the elementary level, the Social Studies, History, and Geography curriculum document retains an interdisciplinary focus in the primary and junior grades, but then splits off into two disciplinary subjects (history and geography) in the intermediate grades. The secondary curriculum documents are even more discipline centric.
In preparation for your seminar this week, write out an answer to the following question. Your TA may call on you to share your answer in the seminar:
